Police that were sent to retrieve a corpse instead found the body alive and well, as they dragged a man ashore in a surreal, viral video.
Residents in Hanumakonda, India, believed they saw a dead body in the water of a local pond and called authorities. It remained motionless for some five hours before police arrived to drag it on shore in front of a gathering crowd.
The incident then took a shocking turn as the shirtless man sat up to face his rescuer, scrambled to his feet and explained to the everyone exactly what happened.
Video shows the bizarre incident, which for the first few seconds seems to be a macabre pond-side scene. The clip surfaced earlier in June, although the date of the encounter itself is unknown.
Drunk Man Mistaken for Dead, Found Alive in Hanumakonda Pond
Residents of Reddypuram Kovelakunta in Hanumakonda were taken aback today after discovering what they initially believed to be a dead body floating in the local pond.
The man, later identified as a quarry worker from… pic.twitter.com/3koRv6iCai— Sudhakar Udumula (@sudhakarudumula) June 10, 2024
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Shortly after the work begins to haul him on land, the tension is broken as the “drowned” man turns around and the crowd shares a laugh.
He then begins to explain his situation.
According to Telangana Today, the man told the officers and gathered crowd that he had simply entered the water to relax after a grueling shift at a local granite facility.
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The explanation: “I work 12 hours a day. I was very tired. I wanted to relax for sometime and so decided to lie in the water for some time.”
This wasn’t a single shift, either.
According to the video’s poster Sudhakar Udumula, the man explained to the crowd that his nap came after working these shifts for ten days straight.
He claimed not to be drunk and, apparently pressing his luck once more, asked officers to loan him travel fare to his home city.
Despite his assurances that he was sober, the man was soon revealed to be heavily intoxicated.
It’s unclear if the man will be punished in any way for the incident.
According to Our World In Data, the rate of death by drowning in India is more than three times that of the United State’s rate.
This wasn’t the only factor working against him.
A study published by the medical journal Injury Prevention found that drowning appears to be the “overwhelming” cause of death for those with high blood alcohol levels taking part in aquatic activities.
